Francois Van Coke And Friends Live At The Assembly

Up until last Friday, I hadn’t been to Assembly in ages. It was like going back to that one bar in your hometown after not having been there in years; your favourite table is now occupied by younger, cooler versions of your group and everything feels different, but four black labels later, it starts feeling like home again.

I’m happy to see that The Vanilla have been doing so well for themselves. For a group that seems to have come out of nowhere with their clever, catchy lyrics and happy melodies, I think they’ll do well. As a unit, they’re really good performers, but whether they have actual staying power and a solid future in the South African music industry is not yet certain. The potential’s there, so it will be interesting to see what they do with it. You can check out their video for The Sun’s Tide over here;

I haven’t really made an effort to listen to Die Heuwels Fantasties since their first album. Aside from the few songs on there that I truly enjoyed, I’ve never really been a fan. It also doesn’t help when the lead vocalist of the group has the unfortunate reputation for being an arrogant asshole – something I’m happy to see has somewhat improved.

Musically, Die Heuwels Fantasties were great and the sound was perfect, but after a while, every song started to sound the same as the last. In my opinion, Sheldon Yoko is one of the best session drummers in our industry and without a doubt one of the best things that could have happened to that band. We featured him in one of our posts that praise local artists; you can read more about him here:

After Friday, I can again appreciate what Die Heuwels Fantasies have become and the contribution they’ve made to our industry. They’re very talented musicians and great performers who connect with their fans. They must have done something right to have a crowd full of people singing along to every song.

After much anticipation, it was finally Francois van Coke’s turn to get on stage. He kicked off his set with “Behoort Aan Niemand Nie” and as expected, within seconds the excitement in the crowd was palpable. After handing out Jagermeister to the crowd as “nagmaal wyn” (almal kry ‘n slukkie), Van Coke had Hunter Kennedy come back on stage to perform Skynheilig with him; possibly the best surprise of the night. Jedd Kossew, as always, did a stellar job with his awe-inspiring guitar skills. What I love most about Van Coke’s shows is that the energy never dips and his power to keep the crowd enthralled.